By Pam Shellenberger, AICP

Silver Jacket teams began as a pilot project in 2005 (Ohio) and 2006 (Indiana). The intent was to create interagency teams to supplement and strengthen hazard mitigation efforts, as well as build collaborative relationships, in areas where they did not yet exist.  The success of the two pilot teams resulted in the creation of many more Silver Jacket teams across the nation.  However, even today, many people are not familiar with the Silver Jackets.

Who are the Silver Jackets?  They are interagency teams comprised of a mix of state, federal, regional, and sometimes tribal and/or local agency representatives, who work cooperatively as a team to assist with finding collaborative solutions to flood risk priorities. Occasionally, other natural disaster risks are addressed. By applying their collective expertise, Silver Jacket teams have developed more comprehensive and cohesive solutions to augment preparedness, mitigation, and response and recovery efforts. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers supports state-led Silver Jackets teams through its Flood Risk Management Program.

Where do Silver Jacket teams exist?  Silver Jacket teams exist in all 50 states, as well as four territories and the District of Columbia.

What are the Silver Jacket focus areas?  Key team activities often include assisting with updates to the state hazard mitigation plan, developing emergency action plans, offering educational workshops and webinars, and creating inundation mapping. However, focus areas for each team will vary depending on state priorities.

Why are they called Silver Jackets?  Agencies involved in disaster response are typically identified by their jacket or shirt color. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) usually wears blue jackets or shirts, while the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) wears red. The name “Silver Jackets” was created to reflect the multiple agencies working together as a team to address flooding issues.

Pennsylvania Silver Jackets

Vision: The vision of the Pennsylvania Silver Jackets is to “create solutions to reduce flood risk and flood damages in the Commonwealth and increase public knowledge of flood risk.”

Team Members:  This interagency team includes representatives of 7 federal agencies, 9 state agencies, 3 regional agencies, and 3 agencies in the “other” category (American Rivers, Keystone Emergency Management, and the PA Association of Floodplain Managers).

Goals: Among the team goals are to work collaboratively to provide hazard mitigation assistance to high priority communities, participate in review of and updates to the Commonwealth All-Hazard Mitigation Plan, develop a public education strategy, develop a process for interagency flood risk communication and outreach roles, and develop relationships to share information and find answers to issues more quickly.

Education and Outreach: The Pennsylvania Silver Jackets offer a variety of educational activities including webinars, flood risk workshops, flood proofing workshops, ice jam training, flood inundation mapping tools, and shared success stories.

To highlight a few, the Pennsylvania Flood Resiliency Success Stories document, developed in 2023, provides information about successful flood resiliency projects throughout the Commonwealth to enable communities to learn from one another. The Flooding 101 webinar offers information on flood types, messaging, impacts, safety, and preparedness. Flood proofing workshops educate participants about techniques, technical assistance and funding programs, disaster planning for historic properties, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and the Community Rating System (CRS).

Hopefully, this brief introduction to the Silver Jackets has piqued your interest. To learn more and gain access to webinar/workshop recordings, and other resources online.